M. capricornus bleaching...

[cmjreef]

All my SPS corals, including other species of Monti. are doing excellent. But, all of my caps look like crap. The edges look fine and the growth is still good, but the main body of the coral looks as if something is rubbing on it. Like the looks of a coral that has been spending too much time next to a frogspawn or something. Can't explain it. Levels are all good, although I did go through a period of higher alkalinity (4.5 meq/l). That's not too high is it? Any ideas or thoughts please.

[Hendersonracing]

not much you can do.....I had a small corner bleach out because something rubbed it and overtime it grew right back!

[Hendersonracing]

oh watch yoor alk that is a little high(IMO)

[cmjreef]

I thought it might be Alk. Burn. Thanks.

[Mike O'Brien]

Check for nudi's as well. Good luck with it.

[tcreefer]

well obviously somthins wrong

[hng]

Originally Posted by tcreefer

well obviously somthins wrong

Any ideas or advice that could help him?

How long have you had the caps? Mine took almost a year to get their original color back and start encrusting well. In fact, my first monti cap encrusted it's attachment, then bleached, then had 3/4 of it's tissue recede, and now is growing back like crazy. It's also starting to get it's color back. Nothing in particular has changed in my tank. Go figure.

[tdwyatt]

Are pix possible?


Depending on the particular specie, it may be that you have too much light, or not enough current, or the temp in the tank is too high, or a combination of all three. Another consideration for more mature colonies is that Montipora caps tend to have issues when the shape of the colony begins to deflect water currents that might otherwise keep accumulations of settling materials off the coral. These losses of circulation often lead to the symptoms you speak of, but by the same token, it can be as Hoang has alluded to (especially for young colonies or frags) concerning the lack of encrustation at the base and issues with colonial adaptation to the conditions in your tank. Sometimes it just takes time for the corals to reach a good growth stage in their introductory process to the system.

Many possible potential problems, sometimes you just have to provide the best water and lighting for the particular specimen posible and see how it does. If you have enough of the colony to try taking a chip and putting it in a lower (or higher) lighting location and/or different current conditions, you may find what works for this particular coral via trial-and-error.


HTH

[marinelife]

I have this problem going on right now, my montipora corals are all turning with, but my other SPS corals are doing great. I can not figure out the problem with them.

[crvz]

marinelife, you may want to look for pests. Nudibranchs will feast on montis, and they are quite small and at times difficult to spot. Hopefully that's not your case!

[marinelife]

I have looked and did not see anything. Most of the montipora corals are large and old. I have some new test kits coming so I can check everything.

[whatcaneyedo]

I found that one day this summer where my tank got a bit too warm my orange (I also have a green one and a purple one) Monti Cap started bleaching while all of the other corals stayed the same. I usually keep the tank at 78 F but I think it was at maybe 82 or even 83.

[cwegescheide]

Hey Craig it also could be a potassium deficiency possibly. Have you ever tested you potassium? Should be around 400. Maybe just a coincedence but when I raised mine my caps seemed to really come alive. I've got a kit you could borrow and I've got plenty of zeo K Balance strong if you need it